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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27012385">Is Something Burning?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gyhl/pseuds/Gyhl'>Gyhl</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Whumptober 2020 [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Kingsman (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Gangs, Alternate universe - Mafia, Character is unnamed cos it would take too much explanation for a minific, Dark!Harry, Harry is Arthur here, Harry uses his charisma for Evil, He mighta killed Chester, Scenes from a WIP, Whumptober 2020, Yeah I have - at last count - 34 WIPs</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 02:07:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,185</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27012385</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gyhl/pseuds/Gyhl</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p><strong>Branding </strong>| Heat Exhaustion | Fire</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Whumptober 2020 [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950607</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Whumptober 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Is Something Burning?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He was laying back on the cell bunk, one arm curled under his head and his eyes closed. But he wasn’t asleep. He was <em>very</em> much awake and aware, and listening. Listening to the soft <em>drip drip drip</em> coming from the shower; to the faint rattling of a chain somewhere; to Rottie’s godawful snoring somewhere down the block.</p>
<p>Rottie being in an arguably worse situation than his had given him some sense of grim satisfaction during the night. Dean had been caught doing unauthorized business in Kingsman territory; he’d immediately blamed it on the lowest ranking member of the Dogs. Lowest ranking member, not because he couldn’t fight his way up, but because he wasn’t <em>allowed</em> to.</p>
<p>
And Dean hadn’t <em>just</em> offered him up. No, that woulda been too fuckin’ simple. Dean had brought him in chains and offered him up to Arthur as a fuckin’ slave. A <em>slave</em>; one who’d taken on the job of negotiating with Kingsman for the right to conduct small bits of business within their territory and then had just not done it and lied about it.</p>
<p>Arthur had agreed, conditionally. As Rottweiler had been the one to actually conduct the business, he was to be remanded for an appropriate time. Dean had agreed to that wholeheartedly, but only because Rottie was already in Kingsman hands.</p>
<p>That condition satisfied, Arthur had come up to him, had grabbed him by the jaw and forced his head back. He’d stared into those cool and calculating eyes, wanting both to move closer and fall back all at the same time.</p>
<p><em>I expect loyalty from even my slaves,</em> the man had all but purred. <em>Prove yours to me, and your lies will be forgotten</em>.</p>
<p>It hadn’t even risen up in him to protest that he hadn’t been the one lying. Arthur’d had Dean unchain him… and then Arthur had handed him a gun. He didn’t even wait for Arthur to tell him <em>what</em> he wanted. He turned and shot Poodle, Yorkie, and Dean in turn before offering the gun back.</p>
<p>Galahad - the only woman at the table - had suggested Arthur keep him separated from the others for a period of time. Arthur had agreed to it, although Eggsy had gotten the impression he agreed to it because it was the standard protocol and not because he expected his new slave to cause a riot, and he’d been ‘housed’ in the prison under the mansion.</p>
<p>His cell door had been left open and he’d wanted to bolt. But… Arthur’s right hand had known exactly where and when Rottie had been in Kingsman territory and what his entry point had been. There was no way he’d get <em>anywhere</em> in Kingsman territory, much less somewhere safe, before they were on him. So he’d stayed.</p>
<p>And now there was a new pair of sounds: the <em>ding</em> of the lift arriving and the footfalls of someone coming down the corridor. He heard them stop outside the cell door and sat up. It was one of the overseers; <em>his</em> overseer, at least until it was decided where he fit. At least there was that, he supposed.</p>
<p>He’d expected to be put to work immediately, instead the overseer gave him an abbreviated tour before bringing him to Medical. There he was given a <em>very</em> thorough physical. A bit <em>too</em> thorough in his opinion. The doctor had grabbed onto him and started stroking him. The man had only brought him to fully erect and then taken measurements.</p>
<p>“These’re things Arthur likes to know,” the overseer said with a shrug. “Sometimes a slave catches his eye.”</p>
<p>“Wonderful,” Eggsy said dryly.</p>
<p>“Ain’t a bad life,” he said quietly. “Ain’t no one allowed to do anything to ‘em. Only Arthur.”</p>
<p>“And when they <em>lose</em> his eye?”</p>
<p>The overseer gave him a wry smile. “A lot of them become his whores. Some of them get put back into another job. But cos they were Arthur’s, <em>no one</em> tries forcing them into their bed. Sometimes he goes back to his toys and don’t no one wanna be the one to have left a mark.”</p>
<p>“So what now?” Eggsy asked as he reached for his clothes.</p>
<p>“Leave ‘em,” the overseer said with a nod to the next room. “You’ll have a uniform when you’re placed in your permanent assignment. Until then, you’ll have a wrap.”</p>
<p>“A wrap,” Eggsy repeated and fought to not roll his eyes.</p>
<p>“It’s for slaves like you who need to learn humility,” the overseer said with a shrug. “Except others to make advances on you, but until you’re placed, you’re under my command by way of Arthur.”</p>
<p>“So… I’m untouchable for the time bein’?”</p>
<p>He nodded. “By others, anyway. I can, and will, have you beaten if you step out of line.”</p>
<p>Eggsy’s brow rose at the threat. There was no malice behind it and it was said almost… more as a fact than something he anticipated. Maybe that meant he’d actually be treated, well, maybe not fairly but fair<em>er</em> than he had with the Dogs.</p>
<p>The overseer motioned to a stool that was near the far wall. There was a bar next to it, just far enough away that anyone seated would have to lean over to hold on to it.</p>
<p>“What’s this for?”</p>
<p>The overseer said nothing until Eggsy was seated. “All slaves are branded. Don’t fight it and it’ll be over quick enough. Fight it…” he shrugged. “You may have to have it done more than once. You may get a beating.”</p>
<p>Eggsy leaned forward and grabbed onto the bar. He didn’t want to submit to this, but he wanted to be on Arthur’s bad side even less. Not if everyone on the grounds - maybe in Kingsman territory; he didn’t know enough about them to be sure one way or the other - was afraid enough of their leader to not even touch his discarded ‘toys’.</p>
<p>“Gotta say, thought you’d be more trouble.”</p>
<p>“Spent a night in the dungeon listenin’ to Rottie be tortured and then you tell me all this shit about Arthur, and you still think I’m gonna be trouble?”</p>
<p>“I give it a week before you earn a beating.”</p>
<p>Eggsy shrugged. “I give it ‘bout the same, honestly.”</p>
<p>He felt the warmth at his back and braced himself. The brand was pressed to his shoulderblade and he screamed at the instant white-hot pain. He could feel the tears falling, tears he was helpless to stop or even slow. But the worst of it was the smell of his own burning flesh. And even though it was done in a matter of seconds - <em>long</em> fuckin’ seconds - the smell hung in the air after.</p>
<p>“I’ll have to inform Arthur ‘bout how you reacted.”</p>
<p>“The fuck’d I do?” Eggsy asked, still holding onto the bar. He felt lightheaded from the pain.</p>
<p>“You didn’t fight it. You kept the struggling to a minimum. You didn’t pass out. Arthur expects to know when a slave is that strong.”</p>
<p>Eggsy scoffed. “Yeah? So he can keep a close eye on me?”</p>
<p>“Yes,” the overseer said. “It’s a quality he looks for in his toys.”</p>
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